Irish designed wireless earbuds — the one for sonic fans
Onesonic MXS-HD1 true wireless earbuds. Pic: Noel Campion.
It’s always great to get tech products that have been designed here in Ireland — something I rarely get the opportunity to do. Last year I reviewed two audio products from an Irish company called Onesonic and I’m delighted to be able to review their new MXS-HD1 ANC wireless earbuds.
Onesonic is a small company based in Dublin with a team of industry-leading audio professionals. This is the company that gifted the young and talented DJ Callum and his hype-man Jackson a new laptop and audio equipment on this year's .
In a world full of wireless earphones, it’s getting harder to stand out and the MXS-HD1 don’t have any particular design features of note. The case is matte black with the Onesonic logo on the lid. It has an elliptical pillbox shape that’s smaller than an AirPods case albeit a good bit taller.
The earbuds are easy to take in and out of the case and are safely held in place by magnets. The case feels well-built with a solid hinge mechanism that inspires confidence that it won’t break easily.
There’s no getting away from the fact that the buds bear a striking resemblance to AirPods Pro and this isn’t a bad thing. I like their form factor with short stems and interchangeable ear tips that are easy to remove and just as easy to change. I know this is something you won’t have to do very often but it makes testing each ear tip size easier.
The earbuds are made from hard moulded plastic but thanks to the different ear tips sizes, they should fit most people. After trying all sizes, I found the medium size worked best for me providing superb comfort with an excellent seal. The latter is essential for improving passive noise isolation and as a result, active noise cancellation.
The buds are nice and light and super comfortable to wear even for long periods. Thanks to an IPX4 splash and sweat-resistant, so you can wear them while working out or other outdoor activities in adverse weather conditions. Although they’re not sports earbuds with wingtips, I never felt like they would fall out of my ears regardless of what I was doing. I’d happily wear them while jogging or cycling.
Onesonic claims up to five hours of battery from the buds but they don’t specify if this is with ANC on or off. The charging case can provide four full charges of the earbuds, giving a total of 20 hours of playtime.
Battery performance does vary depending on the volume and what you’re listening to. Higher volumes and tracks with a lot of bass will drain any earphones quicker.
The case has a USB-C port for charging and it takes 90-minutes to charge the buds from flat to 100%. The case also supports wireless charging which is a welcome feature.
I didn’t like that there’s no LED indicator on the outside of the case to display changing status or the state of the battery in the case. However, if you open the lid you will see a single LED flash RED while it charges.
You can see a rough estimate of the combined battery percentage of the buds in the Bluetooth notification settings on Android phones and in the battery widget on iOS devices.
The MXS-HD1s feature high-performance 7mm dynamic drivers and a Bestechnic BES2300ZP chipset as well as Bluetooth 5.0. As soon as you open the lid, the buds will connect to your paired device.
They don’t feature any sensors to pause the audio when you take them out of your ears. The touch-sensitive controls work for volume, media/call control, toggling between ANC and Ambient sound as well as summonsing Siri or the Google Assistant.
Volume controls work well with a single tap for volume down on the left and up on the right. Press and hold for a couple of seconds for Siri on the left or on the right for ANC/Ambient Sound. However, I found triple and double-tapping for pause/play and skip a track inconsistent.
The sound quality is excellent with a punchy bass response. Choosing the correct ear tip is essential for sound quality, especially bass, along with a little push and twist action. After reviewing 30 plus earphones this year alone, I’m not saying these are class-leading in terms of sound quality but taking into account the price, they’re one of the best sounding earphones I’ve tried at this price point.
The soundstage is well-balanced with excellent detail and clarity for an enjoyable listening experience. I did find that the sound and in particular the bass did continue to improve the more I used them. Like any headphones, there is a break-in period.
The lack of any companion app does mean there’s no way to update firmware, customise touch-controls or tweak EQ or ANC settings. This isn’t a dealbreaker but would have been nice to have.
Active noise cancellation is surprisingly stellar. I really wasn’t expecting it to be this good. The correct ear tips already provide good passive noise isolation but there’s a noticeable reduction in noise thanks to the active noise cancellation. With music playing and ANC active, I was able to block most of the unwanted sounds around me including PCs fans set to the max while gaming.
Onesonic claims up to a 23 - 25dB reduction in noise which is impressive but I also didn’t perceive any drop in audio quality or white noise.
With the massive range of excellent options to choose from, it’s never been more challenging for manufacturers to design earphones that offer something different. The Onesonic MXS-HD1s aren’t exceptional in any one category and even lack some features other competing products offer such as a companion app. However, if you’re looking for earphones with excellent sound quality, great ANC performance and comfort they’re well worth a try. Highly recommended.
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